


Accident

by glitter_glitch, meantforinfinitesadness



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Bittersweet Ending, Dreams, Eventual ROTS AU, Fix-It of Sorts, Force Visions, Gen, Guilt, Head Injury, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, I'm Sorry, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, Nightmares, Padawan Anakin Skywalker, Tragedy, Tragic Accident
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25974787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitter_glitch/pseuds/glitter_glitch, https://archiveofourown.org/users/meantforinfinitesadness/pseuds/meantforinfinitesadness
Summary: Inside the room, Anakin tosses and turns on his bed. Tears stream down his face and cries escape his lips.Obi-Wan takes careful steps to his Padawan. He manages to avoid being hit with model Fighters whirling around the room due to Anakin’s unease. When he finally reaches his distressed Padawan, Obi-Wan calls his name, hoping that would be enough to pull him from whatever his mind is showing him.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873879
Comments: 72
Kudos: 167





	1. The Accident

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my bingo square "Accidentally Hurt By a Friend"  
> \- meantforinfinitesadness

Obi-Wan Kenobi shot up from his horizontal position on his bed. He sucked in deep breaths and tried to calm himself. He closed his eyes and breathed deeper. 

What had awoken him were flashes of images. They weren’t from his own mind. They weren’t his. 

“So who’s-” Obi-Wan paused in his questioning and his eyes widened. The Force was a raging storm and there was only one person in the dorm with him. “Anakin.” He tossed the bed covers aside and sprung from his bed. His bare feet pounded against the floor as he made his way quickly to his Padawan’s room.

At just 12 years old, Anakin Skywalker was a powerful Jedi. There were still things he had to learn, but his strength amazed many Jedi. 

(Anakin tried to hide his smugness when Mace Windu would be caught speechless after Anakin managed to do something extraordinary. Though, Obi-Wan saw right through him and would just shake his head with a fond smile.)

With this strength, Anakin was known to have powerful visions. Others could brush them off as nightmares, but Obi-Wan knew better. 

(Having been one small child at the mercy of the Force as it bombarded him with visions, he understood what Anakin was going through.)

So, as reaches Anakin’s (blessedly unlocked) door, Obi-Wan braces himself. 

Inside the room, Anakin tosses and turns on his bed. Tears stream down his face and cries escape his lips. 

Obi-Wan takes careful steps to his Padawan. He manages to avoid being hit with model Fighters whirling around the room due to Anakin’s unease. When he finally reaches his distressed Padawan, Obi-Wan calls his name, hoping that would be enough to pull him from whatever his mind is showing him.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan steps closer to the bed. “Anakin, wake up!” He calls louder, but the storm seems to grow and more objects rise and spin haphazardly around the room. Obi-Wan ducks to avoid being hit with a datapad. “Padawan!” Still nothing.

Obi-Wan takes a breath and steps closer again. He first tries to reach out through their bond, but he retreats quickly after receiving a shock of pain through his mind. He groans and grits his eyes closed. He builds his shields up a bit and relaxes as the pounding in his head starts to die down. 

Sighing to himself, he resigns himself to his fate. He knows there’s one other option he can try, but he doesn’t know how it’ll go. 

He knows better than to touch someone in the grasp of a night terror or extreme vision, but it seems to him that this is the only other option available. 

So, Obi-Wan reaches out with a hand, breathes deeply once more, and places it gently on Anakin’s shoulder.

The reaction is instantaneous. 

Anakin bolts upright from his bed, giving off a final cry. A burst of energy flies through the room and Obi-Wan is caught up in it. 

He’s thrown through the air. His body collides with the wall. It’s a loud sound and his head smacks against it. 

The crack seems to bring Anakin out of it. His eyes are wide and his breathing is fast as he twists his head left and right. His eyes fall on his Master. Obi-Wan is slumped on the ground. Anakin scrambles off the bed and rushes to his fallen mentor. 

“Obi-Wan?” His name is shaky as it passes through Anakin’s lips. He reaches a trembling hand up to Obi-Wan’s cheek. The streak of blood on the wall behind Obi-Wan sends a cold spike through the Padawan’s body. “Obi-Wan!” Anakin knows better than to shake his Master. So, instead, he grasps Obi-Wan’s shoulders and presses his forehead against his Masters. “Please wake up.” He whispers as tears fall freely once more. “I’m sorry.” He chokes on a sob and his shoulders shake. “I didn’t mean to.”

His pleading and sobs drown out the small groan Obi-Wan releases as he starts to come around. 

“‘nakin?” He asks with a slurred voice. “Wh’s ‘matter?” His head hurts and he’s dizzy, but he can’t help the concern he feels for his Padawan.

“Master?” Anakin’s small voice drills into Obi-Wan’s head. “Master Obi-Wan?” 

Obi-Wan cracks open an eye and allows his lips to twitch into a small smile. 

“‘lo there.” 

Anakin huffs out a laugh that’s mixed with his cries. 

“I’m sorry.” He says with shaking shoulders. “I didn’t mean to. I promise.”

Obi-Wan hums and lifts an arm. He wraps it around his Padawan’s shoulder and brings him close to his body.

“I know.” He whispers as he feels darkness try to take him again. “It’s alright. I’m alright.”

The shaking boy in his arms stiffens. Obi-Wan pays it no mind. 

He thinks he hears a comlink going off. 

He doesn’t dwell on it. How could he, when darkness calls him closer? 


	2. The Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nightmare and the accident, from Anakin's point of view. Ouch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of this story was written by meantforinfinitesadness for the Bad Things Happen Bingo challenge. After I read it, I got an idea for a couple more angsty chapters, so here they are! Warning: You might want to get your handkerchiefs ready…
> 
> Yup, bad things happen indeed.
> 
> \- glitter glitch

**_A few minutes earlier._ **

Anakin tossed and turned, wrapped in the throes of a horrible nightmare.

His power in the Force had been growing quickly over the past few years—perhaps a bit too quickly. He was proud of it, sometimes maybe even a bit smug, but there were times where his abilities scared him, too. When he was awake, he had his power mostly under control, thanks to Obi-Wan’s training. Objects no longer randomly levitated in the air or flew in all directions when he got startled, like they had sometimes in the first year of his training.

But when he was asleep, everything was different. He was at the mercy of the Force. It felt like a river, unimaginably powerful, and he felt like he was drowning. He would desperately try to swim to the surface, to wake up, but he couldn’t. Every time he tried, the impossibly strong currents would drag him back down again.

It only started about six months ago. Anakin had a terrifying nightmare one night, one that left him sobbing in terror when he awoke. Obi-Wan had hugged him and assured him that nightmares and visions were extremely rare for a Jedi, and that he was unlikely to have another one.

Except that a few weeks later, it happened again. And then again, more and more often, until he was having nightmares almost every other night.

Nobody seemed to know how to make it stop, not even Master Yoda. Obi-Wan tried to meditate with him every night before he went to sleep, and he extended their daily lightsaber practice from two hours a day to grueling four or even five, in hopes Anakin would be too tired to dream, but it never helped. Neither did the sleeping pills the Healers made Anakin try. They made the visions even more frequent, and Anakin quickly stopped taking them.

It wasn’t just one vision that plagued him. There were many different ones, but they were always about the same thing.

Death.

Sometimes, he saw his Mom die in his arms, the light going out of her eyes as she weakly smiled at him and struggled to get out her last words. But she had called him a grown-up in the vision, and he wasn’t going to be that for a very long time yet. Hopefully, he would be able to free her and save her before the vision came to pass.

Other times, it was Padmé who would lie dead, in a casket decorated with white flowers. Other nights, it was Bant Eerin, or Master Tachi, or Anakin’s friends from his classes, or other Jedi he didn’t recognize. A few times, he saw dozens of Jedi lie dead on the sandy ground in some kind of an arena. Once he even saw Master Qui-Gon being murdered by that monstrous creature with red and black tattoos and horns on its head.

Tonight, the Force chose to torment him with visions about Obi-Wan again. Anakin saw him, lying on something white, unnaturally still, his unseeing eyes staring at some point behind Anakin. Anakin couldn’t see any injuries; and yet his Master wasn’t moving, not even breathing. His face was deathly pale, his lips tinged with blue. He was gone.

“No,” Anakin mumbled tearfully, shifting in his sleep. “No, please don’t die…”

He didn’t want a different Master. Obi-Wan could sometimes be a bit too strict and serious, but he was also so kind. It had taken them some time to warm up to each other, but now, after three years together, Anakin had come to regard him as the father he never had. He couldn’t have wished for a better Master. He didn’t want anyone else to train him. _No one._

Somebody called Anakin’s name, urging him to wake up, but the voice was too distant and fuzzy to recognize. Anakin tried to swim to the surface, to wake up, but the currents were too strong, pulling him down, deeper and deeper into the black abyss, threatening to drown him... 

A gentle hand touched his shoulder, and Anakin woke up in a panic, bolting up in his bed with a startled cry.

The Force _exploded_ violently, like a bomb. There was a sudden chaos of _stuff_ flying through the air, a cacophony of deafening thuds and cracks, and an explosion of shock and pain that wasn’t his own.

The wild wave of panic and chaos receded as quickly as it came. Anakin was sitting in his bed and looking around in confusion. The room looked like a tornado had torn through. Most of his belongings were haphazardly scattered across the floor, and both his table and chair were overturned. And… oh, Force… Obi-Wan was slumped on the ground, not moving. A small streak of blood on the wall marked the spot where his head had hit the wall, hard.

Anakin scrambled off the bed and rushed to his mentor’s side. 

“Obi-Wan?” Anakin whispered shakily, but there was no reaction. His eyes were closed. Had… had Anakin done this to him? He must have. He’d been working so hard on learning how to control his powers, but he was still half asleep when he got startled, and he didn’t mean to do it, oh Force, he didn’t mean to...

He reached a trembling hand up to his Master’s cheek. “Obi-Wan!”

Anakin knew better than to shake him. So, instead, he grasped Obi-Wan’s shoulders and pressed his forehead against his Master’s.

“Please wake up,” he whispered as tears fell freely once more. “I’m sorry.” He choked on a sob and his shoulders shook. “I didn’t mean to.”

His pleading and sobs drowned out the small groan Obi-Wan released as he started to come around. 

“‘nakin?” he asked, his voice slurred. “Wh’s ‘matter?” He gingerly touched the back of his head and winced.

“Master?” Anakin asked in a small, trembling voice. “Master Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan cracked open an eye and his lips twitched into a small smile. “‘lo there.”

Anakin huffed out a laugh that was mixed with his cries. “I’m sorry,” he said with shaking shoulders. “I didn’t mean to. I promise.”

Obi-Wan gently wrapped his arm around his Padawan’s shoulders and brought him close to his body. “I know. It’s alright. I’m alright.”

But he didn’t _look_ all right. Even in the dim light of the street lights coming in through the window, Anakin could see how pale he looked. The fingers of his right hand, the one he touched to the back of his head when he woke up, were stained with something dark and red. And in the Force… something just felt _wrong_.

Obi-Wan’s comlink started ringing, somewhere in his own bedroom, but he didn’t seem to hear it. His eyes looked odd, as if they were losing focus.

“Anakin, I… I don’t feel right,” he whispered, a hint of something strange in his voice. Almost like _fear_. “Could you... call Bant, will you?”

“Yes, Master,” Anakin said shakily, forcing himself to keep it together. Obi-Wan was hurt, he needed his help. He couldn’t let himself panic now.

Anakin ran to Obi-Wan’s bedroom, quickly found the ringing comlink on the nightstand, and ran back. He was surprised to see that it was Bant who was calling. She was one of Obi-Wan’s closest friends, and a Healer as well. Perhaps she had sensed that he was hurt.

“Obi? Are you all right?” Bant asked, worry clearly visible in her face even through the small, staticky hologram. “I felt something happen, it woke me up…”

Bant trailed off, realizing that it was Anakin who was holding the comlink, and that Obi-Wan was slumped on the floor next to him, not answering.

“Anakin, what happened?!”

“I’m so sorry, Master Eerin,” Anakin choked out through his tears. “I was having a nightmare, and Master Obi-Wan woke me up, I got startled and I threw him back, but I didn’t mean to do it, I swear. He hit his head really badly, and he’s bleeding, I think… I didn’t want to hurt him, I promise, I didn’t mean to. Please, can you come here? Can you hurry?”

“I’m on my way, Anakin,” Bant said gently, interrupting his tearful, panicked rambling. “Calm down. Everything will be alright. I’ll be there in a few minutes, all right?”

“All right,” Anakin echoed shakily, and the call ended.

Despite his terror, Bant’s gentle voice had calmed him down a tiny bit. If his Master was seriously hurt, surely she wouldn’t have been so calm.

“Master? How are you feeling?” Anakin asked, realizing that Obi-Wan hasn’t moved or said anything since he returned. There was no response. A cold wave of terror washed over Anakin. _No…_ Obi-Wan’s eyes were closed again, and he didn’t react when Anakin shook his shoulders slightly.

_No… no, no, no…_

Obi-Wan was slumped against a wall in an uncomfortable position, half sitting, half lying on the floor, with his chin resting on his chest. Anakin thought about moving him to a more comfortable position, but quickly decided against it, terrified of hurting him even more than he already had.

Instead, he turned on the lights and unlocked the door, so Bant wouldn’t have to waste her time with knocking when she arrived. He tried to rouse Obi-Wan again, but to no avail. At least he was still breathing, but he was completely unresponsive. It reminded Anakin of his nightmares, of the image of his Master’s lifeless body lying very still on a white bed.

 _He’s going to die,_ a small, cruel voice in Anakin’s mind said. _He was right, when he told Master Qui-Gon that you were dangerous. You’re a monster. The Council has sensed it, too. That’s why they didn’t want to take you into the Order._

 _No,_ Anakin thought, tears rolling down his cheeks uncontrollably. _No, you’re wrong. He’s going to be fine. If he was dying, Bant would have sensed it. You’re lying._

Anakin’s heart leapt in relief when Bant appeared. She was a Healer; a kind of Jedi who didn’t go on missions or fight with a lightsaber, but who stayed in the Temple and used the Force to help heal the sick and injured. His Master couldn’t be in better hands.

Bant gave him a reassuring smile and gently wiped the tears from Anakin’s cheek. ”Relax, little one. I know that it wasn’t your fault. Accidents happen. Your Master’s going to be fine, I promise. In a few days, this will be nothing more than a funny story to tell.”

Anakin disagreed. This was _never_ going to be a funny story, not in a year or in ten or twenty. But he didn’t want to argue right now.

“Obi? Can you hear me?” Bant asked his Master, but he didn’t respond, just like before. He didn’t even stir.

Bant lightly placed her webbed hand on his forehead and closed her eyes briefly, using her Force perception to sense his vital signs. She pulled a small pen light out of her pocket and gently pulled Obi-Wan’s eyelids back, shining the bright light into his eyes. His eyes were rolled back into his head, Anakin noticed with alarm, leaving only a small sliver of his pupils visible. Anakin shuddered.

Bant clicked her pen light off and slid it back in her pocket. “It seems that you managed to give him a concussion, Anakin. You’re quite powerful for someone your size,” she told him, with a small, reassuring smile, but Anakin didn’t return it. Under her chirpy tone, he could sense an undercurrent of worry.

Bant placed Anakin’s pillow on the floor, wrapped her arms around Obi-Wan’s shoulders and gently lowered him to the floor, so he was lying on his back, with his head comfortably on the pillow.

She placed a warm hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “Relax, Anakin. It’s just a concussion, nothing more. He might have a bad headache when he wakes up, and we’ll keep him in the Halls of Healing for a few days, just to be on the safe side, but other than that, he’s going to be alright.”

Anakin nodded. He knew that he should be relieved, but all he could think about was that horrible nightmare. What if she was wrong? What if it came true anyway?

The next fifteen minutes were a scary, chaotic blur. Bant called two more Healers, who arrived with a stretcher. They exchanged a few curt sentences filled with unfamiliar medical words which were incomprehensible to Anakin. Their voices were normal, businesslike, but Anakin didn’t miss just the tiniest edge of concern in their tone.

They carefully moved his Master onto the stretcher. Anakin winced as he saw the stain of dark red on the pillow where the back of Obi-Wan’s head had been lying. Bant explained to him that while the blood looked scary, it was just a small cut and that it wasn’t anything serious, but that didn’t make Anakin feel any better. He had caused this. His Master could very well be dying, because of what _he_ had done.

At that point, Master Mundi arrived, since Bant had asked him to take care of Anakin until Obi-Wan was able to go home. That irked Anakin a little; he wasn’t a baby, he was more than capable of taking care of himself for a few days. He could even make some basic food for himself, and while he wasn’t too great at it, he wasn’t going to starve, either. But Bant’s tone allowed no objections.

The Healers departed, taking Obi-Wan with them. Anakin watched them go with barely contained tears glimmering in his eyes. The small voice in his head reawakened.

 _He still hasn’t woken up,_ it whispered. _He hasn’t even stirred since you returned with the comlink. That has to be a bad sign. He’s going to die. He’s going to die because of you._

No, Anakin told himself desperately. Bant told him that he was going to be fine. She wouldn’t lie to him. Would she?

Master Mundi helped Anakin clean up the mess in his room, tossed the dirty pillow in the washer and offered to make Anakin some tea or something small to eat, but he refused. He already felt nauseous enough as it was. Even the very thought of food or tea made him want to vomit. Master Mundi gently reassured Anakin that what happened wasn’t his fault, but Anakin was barely listening. It _was_ his fault.

Master Mundi told him to try to go back to sleep. Anakin went to bed without any objections; not because he had any intentions to actually sleep, but because what else could he do, anyway? Make small talk? He had no desire to do that. While the Cerean Jedi Master seemed nice enough, Anakin barely knew him. And he was a Council member. They were not to be trusted.

Anakin turned off the lights and stared at the ceiling. His eyes were raw and puffy from crying, and felt like they had sand in them. He tried to reach out with the Force, to sense how his Master was doing, but he couldn’t sense a thing, just as he expected. It would take years of training before his senses became that attuned.

Anakin sighed and closed his eyes, but only because they were so sore, not because he felt sleepy. His heart was still pounding madly and his entire body was shaking like a leaf. There was no way he would be able to fall asleep tonight.

And even if he could fall asleep, he wouldn’t. He refused to let anyone else get hurt because of him.


	3. The Next Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan has to stay in the Healer's Wars longer than expected, Anakin feels guilty and worried, and lots of angst ensues. Also, a Tru Veld and Cin Drallig cameo, just because I can.

The day’s classes seemed to drag even more than usual.

Master Mundi had promised Anakin that he could go see Obi-Wan, but only after attending all of his classes for today. Anakin briefly considered skipping one of the classes and sneaking into the Healer’s Ward earlier, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He had no doubt that the Council was already considering expelling him from the Order for what he did last night. They had always thought him to be dangerous, and what happened today only confirmed it. Disobeying Master Mundi’s orders would undoubtedly be the last straw.

Anakin didn’t tell anyone about what happened last night, not even his friends. Many of the other Padawans already mistrusted and disliked him as it was. They thought that he was too old and too dangerous, just like the Council did. He could sometimes hear them whispering when he walked past. If they learned about what he had done... Anakin shuddered.

“Hey, what’s the matter with you today?” Tru Veld asked, playfully punching Anakin in the arm. He was one of the very few Padawans who was actually friendly to Anakin.

“My stomach hurts. And I couldn’t sleep,” Anakin grumbled, hoping that this answer would satisfy him. Thankfully, it did.

It wasn’t a lie, not completely. He was nauseous from worry, and the part about not sleeping was true as well. Just like he expected, he didn’t manage to get a single wink of sleep last night. He was telling the truth... from a certain point of view.

Kriff, he was almost starting to sound like his Master.

Worried, Anakin wondered how Obi-Wan was doing. Before Anakin left for his classes in the morning, Master Mundi had told him that Obi-Wan was awake and feeling a lot better, but that did little to calm Anakin down. He still couldn’t get that terrible vision out of his head.

He wondered if his Master would even want to see him, after his classes were over. Yesterday, he told Anakin that he didn’t blame him for what happened, but did he really mean it? Perhaps he was so out of it that he didn’t really know what he was saying. What if this incident made him realize that what he once said to Qui-Gon was right, and that Anakin was too dangerous to be trained? What if he didn’t want to train Anakin anymore, or even worse, expel him from the Order and make him return to Tatooine in shame?

* * *

The last class of the day was a two-hour lightsaber practice taught by Master Drallig himself, the Order’s chief lightsaber instructor.

Sparring required Anakin’s full concentration, mercifully letting him forget about his worries for a while. He had already won three bouts in a row against Tru and was on his way to win the fourth, when he suddenly stumbled and crashed to his knees with a soft cry, clutching his head.

Tru couldn’t stop the momentum of his blade in time and hit him in the shoulder, hard. Luckily, the training sabers were too low-powered to cause anything more than a bruise.

“I’m so sorry!” Tru squealed, powering down his training saber. “Did I hurt you?”

“I’m fine,” Anakin mumbled automatically. He was on his knees, holding his head, tears of pain shimmering in his eyes.

He had no idea what was happening. One moment, he had been on the offensive, he had been _winning_ , and then… a sudden explosion of blinding pain had ripped through his head. As if an invisible hand reached into his mind, cruelly tearing and twisting whatever it could grab.

 _Obi-Wan…_ did something bad happen to him? Was that what Anakin felt? His Master had once told him that older Padawans could sense it when their Master got seriously injured or died, and vice versa. When Qui-Gon was stabbed in his chest by that monster, Obi-Wan had felt his pain as if it was his own.

Obi-Wan already got hurt on one or two of their missions already, but Anakin never felt it so far, his senses hadn’t been that attuned yet. But maybe they were now.

There was nothing that could keep Anakin in the training salle anymore, not even the threat of being expelled from the Order.

“I… I'm sorry, Master Drallig, my stomach really hurts,” Anakin half-lied to their lightsaber instructor. “I… I think I’m going to be sick. I’ll be in the ‘fresher.”

Anakin didn’t wait to see if Master Drallig bought his lie. He dropped his training saber on the floor of the training salle and bolted out.

The run to the Healer’s Ward felt like an eternity. It was on the opposite side of the Temple, and it took Anakin almost fifteen minutes to get there. By the time he arrived, the pain had lessened considerably and all but stopped, leaving only a dull throbbing ache in his left temple.

Anakin stopped in front of the door of Obi-Wan’s room in the Healer’s Ward, panting heavily.

He didn’t dare to go inside, not wanting to get caught when he wasn’t allowed to be there. He peeked in through the clear window. His heart leapt in joy when he saw his Master lying in the bed. He seemed to be either unconscious or asleep, but one of the screens showed his heartbeat. He was alive.

But Anakin’s relief was short-lived. There were far too many Healers crowded in the room, three of them in total, plus a medical droid. That wasn’t normal. Something _had_ happened to him.

One of the Healers was shining a bright pen light into Obi-Wan’s eyes, just like Bant had done earlier, while another one was holding his head tilted back and inserting some kind of a thick breathing tube into his mouth. Anakin stared, his eyes wide in horror. _No_ … He didn’t know much about Healing, but even he knew that _that_ was a bad sign.

The Healers were talking amongst themselves in hushed, businesslike voices. Anakin could only hear tiny snippets of their conversation through the closed glass door. _Seizure… brain hemorrhage… scan… minimal… activity… reflexes… don’t know if…_

One of the Healers turned around, spotting Anakin, and quickly shooed him out.

* * *

**_Several days later._ **

Anakin sat on his bed in his quarters, miserably staring out of the window. He was supposed to be doing his homework, but he couldn’t focus on anything at all. After spending ten minutes staring at the same page without remembering a single word of it, he finally gave up.

Almost four full days had passed since that terrifying night. Master Mundi was staying in Obi-Wan’s room for now, to keep an eye on Anakin. Obi-Wan should have been back home by now, but he wasn’t. The Healers were still keeping him in the Healer’s Ward, with barely any updates on how he was doing. All Anakin knew was that his Master had a bad seizure the day Anakin ran out of Master Drallig’s class, and that they had to keep him in the Healer’s Ward a bit longer than expected.

But Anakin hadn’t felt any more pain from him since that day, so he was hopefully getting better.

For some strange reason, Master Mundi never punished Anakin for leaving the lightsaber class early. He was surprisingly nice for a Council member. He helped Anakin with his homework every evening, and didn’t even seem to be mad at him for worrying about Obi-Wan, even though the Code forbade it.

But Anakin didn’t care how nice he was. He didn’t want to spend another day with him. He just wanted Obi-Wan back.

Sadly, that was probably not going to happen. At this point, it was clear to Anakin that his earlier suspicion was correct, and that Obi-Wan had no desire to talk to him after what he had done. Maybe he was even afraid that Anakin would hurt him again, if he came to see him.

Anakin was slowly beginning to come to terms that he was either going to be expelled from the Order, or assigned to a different Master. He didn’t _want_ another Master; he wanted Obi-Wan back. But he could understand why Obi-Wan wouldn’t want to train him anymore. Who would?

Anakin’s ears perked up; in the next room, Master Mundi was talking to someone on the comlink. It sounded like a woman’s voice - was that Bant? Perhaps she had some news about Obi-Wan, or about Anakin’s punishment for what he had done.

Anakin quietly tiptoed to the wall separating the rooms and pressed his ear against it. He held his breath, straining his ears to hear the hushed conversation.

The other person talking was definitely Bant, but the volume of the comlink was far too low for Anakin to hear what she was saying. He could only barely hear a few snippets of Master Mundi’s reply. _Anakin…here... yes... doing his homework…_

Bant said a few sentences he couldn’t hear, then Master Mundi’s voice was talking again.

_Bant... this… you can’t make him… just a child… surely, you…_

Anakin gritted his teeth. He _hated_ when adults did this, when they talked about him behind his back as if he was a toddler. He wasn’t a baby anymore. He was twelve, and a former slave. Mom had always said that slave children always grew up faster than others. He wasn’t the stupid, naive child they thought him to be.

But maybe Master Mundi was telling her that Anakin was too young to be kicked out of the Order for what he did, and that he should be given another chance. In that case, he was perfectly fine with being treated like a little kid. He could even try to cry a bit, if that was what it took to change the Council’s mind. He didn’t want to be expelled from the Order and sent back to Tatooine. He couldn’t imagine anything more shameful.

Bant and Master Mundi kept talking for a little longer, but their voices were too low to make out any more words. It sounded like they were arguing. Anakin recognized his own name being mentioned a few more times, but that was it.

The conversation ended. Anakin quickly tiptoed back to his chair and pretended to be doing his homework, afraid of being caught eavesdropping. Just in time. Only a few seconds later, the door to his room opened and Master Mundi walked in.

“I just spoke to Master Eerin,” he said. His expression was strangely blank, completely unreadable. Anakin did his best to feign surprise.

“Can I go see Master Obi-Wan today? Please,” Anakin pleaded. “I know that he’s mad at me, but I just want to apologize. I won’t bother him for long. I’ll just apologize and leave him alone, I promise.”

A strange look flashed across Master Mundi’s eyes, just for a moment. It looked... pained.

“He’s not mad at you, Anakin,” Master Mundi said quietly. “Certainly not that. And… yes, you may come and see him. Actually, that’s what Master Eerin was just suggesting. Come on.”

Anakin’s heart leapt in relief. Perhaps not everything was lost yet. Maybe Obi-Wan didn’t hate him yet after all. Maybe he could still change his mind and take Anakin back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please read & review!


	4. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin is finally allowed to visit Obi-Wan. It doesn’t go too well...

Anakin was almost smiling with relief as he walked towards the Healer’s Ward behind Master Mundi. He had made a resolution to train twice as hard from now on to get his abilities under control, so he’d never accidentally hurt Obi-Wan or anyone else again.

He had also vowed to be more obedient and talk back less. He didn’t want to make Obi-Wan this disappointed with him again, to the point he didn’t even speak to Anakin for four days. Anakin missed him so much.

Anakin’s worry reared its head again as they reached Master Obi-Wan’s room in the Healer’s Ward. He seemed to be fast asleep when they entered, and the thick breathing tube in the corner of his mouth was still there.

Bant was there, too, and her expression… something was just  _ wrong  _ about it.

Anakin decided to worry about that later. He sat down in the empty chair next to his Master’s bed. He was still asleep, his head slightly turned away from Anakin. A dizzying wave of relief washed over Anakin as he watched his Master’s chest rise and fall slowly, and heard the slow, steady beeping of the machine that measured his pulse. He was still alive. Anakin’s visions didn’t come true.

Anakin felt really bad about waking him up, but he had no idea when the Healers would allow him to visit his Master again. He hoped that Obi-Wan would forgive him.

Anakin lightly touched Obi-Wan’s hand. “Master, it’s me, Anakin. Wake up. I… I came to apologize.”

Bant’s webbed hand lightly touched Anakin’s shoulder. Anakin looked up, shocked to see such terrible sadness on her face. “Anakin, I’m… I’m sorry. But there’s a reason we called you here today. He’s…” her voice broke. “I’m so sorry, little one. But he’s not going to wake up.”

Anakin stared at her, frowning.

“What… what do you mean?” he finally managed to whisper, a bit angry at her for suggesting something so awful. “Of course he’s going to wake up. He’s not dead. Just asleep.”

Bant’s large silver eyes looked so sad. She sighed. “I’m so sorry, Anakin. The day after the accident, Obi-Wan seemed to be doing much better. He was awake, and he wouldn’t stop asking about you. He was really worried that you were blaming yourself for the accident. But then… he had a really bad seizure. It lasted over ten minutes. It made his concussion much worse. He started bleeding into his brain. We tried everything he could to stop the bleeding, but… even our powers have their limits. There was nothing we could do. We didn’t want to tell you until we were absolutely sure, but... the scans showed no brain activity. The damage is irreversible. I’m terribly sorry, little one. He’s… he’s gone.“

Anakin blinked furiously, hot tears slowly starting to well up in his eyes.

“Why would you say something so horrible?!” he spat out furiously. “He’s not dead, he’s still breathing, and his heart is beating!” He pointed at the beeping monitor, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks. “ _ Look! _ ”

“The heart is able to beat by itself, even without the brain to guide it,” Bant explained gently. “And he’s not…” Her voice broke again. “He’s not breathing by himself, Anakin. The machine is doing it for him.”

“YOU’RE LYING!” Anakin screamed through his tears, as loudly as he could. He was furious. Why would she say such horrible things to him when they weren’t true?

And yet, he couldn’t miss the fact that his Master didn’t wake up during their argument, even though he was usually a very light sleeper. He didn’t even stir, or make a sound, or do  _ anything _ at all. He lay completely still, eyes closed, his head slightly rolled to the side. His chest slowly rose and fell in an unnaturally regular rhythm, each inhale and exhale accompanied by a soft hiss of the machine.

It was true, wasn’t it? Bant wasn’t lying to him. His Master was already gone, his body just hadn’t realized it yet. Anakin had killed him. He was exactly what the Council had always said he was. He was too dangerous to be trained. He was a murderer. A monster.

Master Mundi must have sensed something of what he was thinking, because he sat down on the other chair, so his eyes were at the same level as Anakin’s, and lightly touched his shoulders. “Anakin, listen to me. This isn’t your fault. Accidents sometimes happen, that are nobody's fault…”

Anakin tearfully shoved him away, but only with his hands, not with the Force. He didn’t want to kill  _ him _ , too.

He ran out of the room, his vision so blurry with tears that he could barely see a thing. Bant shouted his name, pleading with him to stop, but he ignored her. He ran out of the Healer’s Ward and kept running as far as he could, sobbing harder than he had ever before.

* * *

Several hours later, Master Mundi found him sitting huddled in a small, half-forgotten hallway in the Temple, that nobody ever used. Anakin wasn’t sobbing anymore, just blankly staring at a wall.

Master Mundi quietly sat down beside him, unsure of what to say.

“I killed him,” Anakin whispered, hugging his knees with his arms. “Obi-Wan was so kind to me, he took me under his wing after Master Qui-Gon died, even though I could see how much it hurt him at first. And I  _ killed  _ him.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Master Mundi said softly. “You were startled, and you’re too young to be in full control of your powers yet. It was nobody’s fault.”

Anakin only sniffled, not bothering to argue. It  _ was  _ his fault, but he knew that Master Mundi wouldn’t understand.

“What’s going to happen to him?”

Master Mundi sighed sadly. “The ventilator could keep his body alive for years, but that would be a miserable existence. You’ll be given some time to say goodbye, and then the Healers will turn off the machines.”

Anakin remembered his vision, the one that caused all of this. A self-fulfilling prophecy. He had seen Obi-Wan lying on a bed in the Healer’s Ward, not breathing, his vacant eyes staring at nothing. The breathing tube was gone, his lips blue. At last, Anakin finally understood what he had seen.

“He can’t breathe by himself,” Anakin whispered in a small, tremulous voice. “And they… they’re going to take the ventilator away, aren’t they? He’s going to die…”

“He won’t feel any discomfort, Anakin. He’ll never even know that it happened.”

Anakin only sniffled miserably.

“And what about me? They’re going to expel me from the Order, aren’t they?”

“No. The Council knows that you are not to blame for what happened. You will be assigned another Master to continue your training. Master Koon, Yoda, Tiin and several others already offered to take you as their Padawan. I’m offering the same. The choice will be up to you.”

“I don’t want another Master,” Anakin whispered, so softly Master Mundi could barely hear him. “I want Obi-Wan.”

Master Mundi let out a long sigh and wrapped his arm around the child’s thin shoulders, pulling him close. “I know, little one,” he mumbled, his voice heavy with quiet grief. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I’m so sorry.
> 
> The next chapter might come out a bit later than usual, since I'm really busy. As always, please read & review!
> 
> \- glitter glitch


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